Pessary.



E. F. PETERSEN.

PESSARY. APPLICATION FILED MAB. 5, 1912.

1,052 687. Patented Feb. 11,1913.

WihlEE-SE'. Inveninr:

UNIED STATES PATEN OFFICE.

ERNST FRIEDRICH PETERSEN, O F FR ANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY.

PESSARY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 191 3.

Application filedllarch 5, 1912. 'Serial No. 681,738.

or less faulty. They can only be inserted in proper position by a'skilled person with the result that they sometimes remain in place for long periods without attention and in' consequence thereof produce ill efiects on the female organism; moreover, they soon become fetid owing to the. impossibility of keeping them thoroughly clean. A further disadvantage of the known apparatus is that they do not remain in proper position after insertion but in a very short time become displaced by the pressure of the abdomen thereby being brought into a less effective supporting position. Further, ,with such apparatus it has beenassumed that they mustshift when in use and thereforethey have been made comparatively large, so that even if slightly out of place they still give some support to the organs.

The foregoing disadvantages are obviated with the present invention which consists in providing a comparatively small, round supporting ring. having a bent or bow-shaped part secured at a suitable angle to the face of the ring. By making the improved pessary with a bent or bow-shaped part secured to a supporting ring, as described, there are the following advantages, among others It can, by means of the finger, be easily inserted in position by the wearer personally without skilled assistance and it can be similarly withdrawn for cleaning or other purposes whenever desired. It cannot penetrate too far into the vagina and when'once inserted it readily assumes the proper position When being'placed in position by the wearer, the apparatus is caused to travel along the vagina with its point sharply bent downward until it reaches the proper position for supporting the lower part of the uterus which support is given by the ring portion, of the apparatus. The supporting ring is firmly retained in position by the pressure exerted on the bent or bow-shaped part by the front wall of the vagina and by the uterus. In this way, the pressure of the abdomen tends to .retain the pessary in proper position whereas with such apparatus as hitherto constructed abdominal pressure tended to displace the apparatus. v

The improved pessary which is held in pos tion transversely of the axis of the vagina can be made smaller than such apparatus as heretofore made which apparatus I usually required to be held by oblique ten.- sion on the vagina. The supporting power of the improved pessary is still further increased by surrounding the whole frame, excepting the ring-shaped opening for the inor other suitablemembrane which serves as a double supporting surface, its up er surface preventing the uterus and the ront of the vagina wall from sinking too low between the two side arms of the bent bow, while its lower surface acts as a further support for the upper part of the rear of the vagina wall. The rubber or other suitable membrane may be either permanently secured to the frame or it may be removably secured in place for the purpose of enabling the apparatus to be readily cleaned.

I will now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved pessary. Fig. 2 a view of the frame covered with the membrane. Fig. 3 a section taken through F ig, 2, and Fig. 4 illustrates the apparatus in use.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts in the views.

a is a yielding frame, consisting of a flexible part b of suitable material which is suitably shaped and is covered with a soft material such as, for instance,- rubber or the like. The frame is preferably in the form of a ring 0, whose outer edge presses against the wall of the uterus when the apparatus is in use, and a bent or bow-shaped part d,

which .is pushed behindthe neck of the uterus, so that the whole arrangement can readily be firmly secured in the desired position. The shanks of the bow or baild are secured to the upper side of ring a at diametricall opposite points, so that a plane drawn t rough the bail will intersect a plane drawn through the ring. As shown the bail joins the ring at an obtuse angle and -sertion of the finger, with a stretched rubber pass back of its upper end is bent backwardly, so as to the uterus neck. A cover or membrane 6 of rubber or the like is stretched or strained over the frame and is either permanently or interchangeably connected thereto.

In Fig. 4:, I designates the uterus, II the pessary and III the vagina. As illustrated in this figure, the circular ring 0 extends in a substantially horizontal direction across the upper end of the vagina, thereby engaging the front and rear Walls of the latter. The curved rear bow of bail d engages the rear vagina-wall above the point of engagement between said wall and ring 0. If a pressure is exercised by the uterus upon the membrane 6 extending from bail d to the forward portion of ring 0 and consequently upon bail d itself, said bail acts as a, lever and its rear end is forced against the rear wall of the Vagina, thereby effectively preventing the front portion of ring a from slipping down along the front wall of the vagina. In this'way the device is securely held in place after being properly inserted.

I claim:

A pessary comprising a flexible member of substantially circular shape adapted to frictionally engage thefront and rear walls of the vagina, so as to be supported in a substantially horizontal position, and a curvedbail extending upwardly and rearwardly from the middle of said adapted to engage the rear vagina-wall above the point of engagement between said rear wall and flexible member, said bail being adapted to support the lower part of the uterus, whereby the bail when subjected to a pressure by the uterus, preventsthe forward end of said member from being forced downward along the front wall of the vagina.

ERNST FRIEDRICH PETERSEli.

Witnesses:

JEAN GRUND, CARL GRUND.

member and 

